Paul Pogba Has Been at the Heart of Manchester United's Recent Improvement

When Jose Mourinho's Manchester United faced David Moyes' Sunderland on Monday, it was hard not to feel as if a ghost were being put to rest—not the Ghost of Christmas Past, but the ghost of terrible managerial appointments past.

Moyes' first home game of his United reign was against Mourinho's Chelsea, but Boxing Day 2016 saw them face off against each other in more appropriate technical areas.

The Portuguese, a serial winner with one of the biggest personalities in the game in charge of United, and Moyes in charge of an opposition who put up a decent fight but were utterly outclassed.

"

Fred the Red still loves Moyesey@br_uk pic.twitter.com/YFzw6jBGBf

— Paul Santacast (@UtdRantcast) December 26, 2016"

The game will live long in the memories of those who saw it, not for that managerial clash—nor for Fred the Red's polite welcome for Moyes—but for the remarkable moment that was Henrikh Mkhitaryan's goal, United's third.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic set the Armenia international up for his moment of magic—for which he was offside, but let's brush over that inconvenient truth—by slightly underhitting his cross. It meant the ball was behind Mkhitaryan when it reached him, but that turned out to be a good thing because he found an otherworldly finish with which to score.

Ibrahimovic had scored a few minutes earlier, tucking home a perfectly weighted through ball from Paul Pogba. The France international had won possession back after some ineffective Sunderland passing, combining tenacity with a healthy slice of good fortune. He got the pass right and earned his third assist in the Premier League this season—all three for Ibrahimovic.

Pogba's all-around performance was well worth an assist. Indeed, he was pretty unfortunate not to have more than that. He had eight shots at goal, of which three were saved and two were blocked. Three more were off-target, but a couple of those went close.

There was his glorious dipping volley from just inside the box and a header that went just over the crossbar. Two of the saved shots were decent efforts too.

The first was from the edge of the six-yard box. The second was the whipped shot from the edge of the area. He exchanged a one-two with Jesse Lingard, setting him up perfectly for the effort that Jordan Pickford managed to tip on to the post.

His assist was one of two key passes. Forward-looking, probing and creative passing was his mandate. He completed 58 of the 70 passes he attempted, a decent return considering he was anything but conservative in possession.

Pogba succeeded with three of the five tackles he attempted and made five interceptions, including the one that led to Ibrahimovic's goal. He also succeeded with all three of the dribbles he attempted.

Considering Ibrahimovic scored a goal and provided two assists, it is all the more remarkable that Pogba's numbers were still good enough for him to finish as WhoScored.com's man of the match.

Remarkable, but not undeserved. His presence in United's midfield has not transformed every game this season, but since the switch to 4-3-3—with Pobga playing alongside Michael Carrick and Ander Herrera—the Frenchman has been consistently outstanding.

The left of a midfield three is where he played his best football for Juventus, and where France boss Didier Deschamps should have played him more often during the European Championship. It should come as no surprise that he is thriving in that role for United.

There was a moment in the first half that showed an aspect of just how different Pogba is to his peers. He picked the ball up deep in United's own half, and within around 15 seconds, he had the ball deep in opposition territory.

He had done so in two touches, and what did not seem many more strides than that. He had essentially played two through balls to himself, so confident was he that he could beat the Sunderland defenders to the ball. That had come after a brief period of opposition pressure and was typical of how Pogba can change the balance of a game quickly.

In spite of United being comfortably the better side for much of the game—enjoying a 62.3 per cent to 37.7 per cent advantage and outshooting the Black Cats by 26 to seven—the three United midfielders maintained significant positional discipline.

Herrera was deployed on the right, where he could link up with Juan Mata first, then Mkhitaryan, Carrick through the middle and Pogba on the left. The Frenchman could probably have afforded to roam a little more than he did, but he clearly stuck to his brief.

After the game, in response to a question about whether he felt this was "his" team now, Mourinho suggested his players have been operating to his instructions for some time. He specifically cited the 0-0 draw with Burnley on October 29, saying that was a superior performance to the one his team had just given.

However, he revealed something about his satisfaction with the team's evidently well-established structure when he said: "When [Antonio] Valencia has the ball, they know what to do. When [Daley] Blind has the ball, they know what to do."

The midfield discipline of which Pogba is a key part is obviously an important aspect of those instructions.

Pogba knows what to do in a variety of settings. He offers simple passes for the defenders or Carrick when he has to by dropping deep, knowing that both his range of passing and dribbling ability can open up the opposition, even from deep-lying positions.

"

#mufc a joy to watch again today. Pogba man of the match but Mkhitaryan magnificent again.

— Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) December 26, 2016"

He complements Ibrahimovic in the attack beautifully and is always prepared to break ahead of the ball into the penalty area. United's attackers are all technicians, and the interplay around the area is often exciting to watch.

Such an example was the attack when Mata and Ibrahimovic combined to get the ball through to Pogba in the box. When he received it, he flicked it into the air and attempted to volley it home. In the end, it was a comfortable save for Pickford, but it was the kind of invention that makes him special.

The kind of invention United are now blessed with plenty of. The Red Devils are unbeaten since November 3 and have won five games in a row.

Pogba has been at the heart of this improvement, consistently impressing in midfield, breaking up opposition play and contributing to United's attack.

Mourinho's team is coming together, and while tougher tests await, it would be hard to go into the second half of the season with anything other than a spirit of cautious optimism.

Quotations obtained firsthand. Advanced data per WhoScored.com.